Before Ian made landfall it was forecasted to come up through Georgia and over us, but that didn’t happen. It doesn’t look like we’ll even get rain from the storm, and if we do it won’t be very much.
I’ve always been amazed and awed over the powerful storms we call hurricanes. I love the way older folks in my area say the word: harricun. Pap said it like that I suppose that why I enjoy the usage.
Sometimes those massive storms that start so far away from the mountains of Appalachia do come over us as they move on farther north.
Typically the damage from them is too much rain which leads to flooding and landslides.
When The Deer Hunter and I were first married we lived with Granny and Pap while we were building our house. One fall harricun Opal screamed through our surrounding area.
I remember someone from our local emc saying Opal was a 500 pole event for them. I also remember our power was off for several days. So many trees were down The Deer Hunter and others had to cut their way to work on that first morning.
But what stands out in my mind most was the first time I walked up the creek after Opal.
The trees were just laid over in places like a giant had pushed them as if they were weeds in his way. There wasn’t nothing to hurt up there in the woods, but down in the settlements trees fell on houses, cars, and of course power lines.
hurricane noun
A variant forms harricane, harricun, herrycane.
1942 Hall Phonetics 42 [harik’n].
B
1 A severe windstorm.
1834 Crockett Narrative 150 In the morning we concluded to go on with the boat to where a great harricane crossed the river, and blowed all the timber down into it. 1966 DARE = a destructive wind that blows straight (Cherokee NC). 1969 GSMNP-38:135 A windstorm, we called it the young hurricane. 1982 Powers and Hannah Cataloochee 421 He said that he wished they’d come a herrycane and blow the cranberry bushes out of the ground. 1995 Montgomery Coll. (Cardwell, Shields).
2 A growth of cane or other plant in an area where trees were appar leveled in the past by violent windstorm.
1834 Crockett Narrative 151 We cut out, and moved up to the harricane, where we stop’d for the night 1918 Combs Word-list South 34 = a thicket of cane or other underbrush. 1996 Montgomery Coll. (Adams, Cardwell, Ledford); = also refers to laurel thicket (Ellis).
Dictionary of Smoky Mountain English
My heart goes out to all the folks who’ve suffered damage from hurricane Ian and I pray God will help them.
Last night’s video: Alex Stewart Portrait of a Pioneer 20.
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Glad to hear that the NC mountains – especially the part the Pressleys are in – was spared the wind and rain from Ian.
My first experience with a hurricane (her’ uh-kin) was Hazel in 1954. In that age, the national weather service relied on reports from locals wiring in information. There was no weather radar and no satellite views and precious little other weather data gathered. Hazel hit at Southport, NC. My guess is that it was a category 3, but I don’t think they ranked them in those days. After hitting the coast and destroying Holden Beach, most of Carolina Beach and a lot of Wrightsville Beach, it headed inland and passed over Raleigh where I was. They let us out of school just about the time the storm got to town. Many school children were outdoors in the storm. There were no school buses in the city at that time. I only had to go 3 blocks to get home. Hundreds of trees were blown down in Raleigh and power was out for days. For a couple of decades afterward when driving toward the coast, you could see huge oak tree trunks laid out toward the WNW. I’ve been through a couple more, less powerful, hurricanes since, but will remember Hazel ’til they bury me.
My wife’s sister was 5 miles crow-fly from where Ian hit the FL Gulf Coast, Southeast of Englewood. She is a 76 year old widow with early dementia, but has lifelong friends that she spent 2 nights with. They are all safe, Thank God! Of course, they lost power and cellular service was spotty for awhile. They still have no electricity nor any running water. Amazingly, neither my sister-in-law’s house nor that of her friends suffered any significant damage, not even loss of roof shingles; but the screens around their swimming pools were blown out. They had winds above 100 mph for 10 or more hours!
Tipper – I so enjoy when you read to us from books of Appalachia. I especially enjoyed last night’s reading from Alex Stewart’s book on the Melungeons up around Douglas Lake Valley. And lordy, the story bout the mad dog. I’m old enough to have fears foamy dogs! Your point about the need for more down-to-the-peoples’ history is something missing from school history. We’ve got to get that back into the curriculums. It’s history is contained mostly in books and such. One of the best ever books of the diaspora of Appalachians migrating to become the tinkers, the backbone of the industrial Northwest, was written by Harriett Arnow, “The Dollmaker.” I had occasion to sit a spell with Harriet before her passing up in Ann Arbor, MI. She was a kind person, a brilliant writer. Her book is one of the only books I every read that caused me to go a sobbing bout little Cassie. God bless you, Tipper, for promoting the Appalachian history. Tom
Across the ridge to the north of Wiggins Creek is Hurricane Branch. We pronounced it like hur·uh·kun. Daddy said it was called that because a storm had come through and flattened all the timber. I can remember walking across the ridge and seeing lots of dead trees laying down all in one direction. That was many years after the event but there was still evidence.
I’m guessing we got 2 or 3 inches of rain off of Ian but it was nothing like they predicted. The high winds, downed trees and flooding didn’t happen. It was pretty breezy Thursday, Friday and Saturday but nothing I know of was damaged.
Surrounding areas like Charlotte had lots of rain and high winds that took down a few trees according to the local news. In my area a few trees fell, but thankfully no power outages or severe damage around us. Thankful y’all didn’t get nothing but rain. Praying for all those in Florida and the other areas along the coast that got hit bad by Ian.
We were lucky in our county yesterday. We did have lots of rain but now the concern is flooding in some areas. We did lose power but for only about an hour here but there are still around 6,000 without. I consider us very blessed when you see Florida and the Myrtle Beach area. I can’t imagine what those folks are going through. Prayers to everyone!!
It is here in Ohio now, but I can see the clouds to the south east, but we haven’t had any rain here. We need rain, but the farmer who plants my fields started harvesting corn this morning and I am sure he doesn’t want to see any.
Hurry canes are another reason not to live in Florida. I’ll take the snow any day
We were in Louisville, KY (Lou-vil) in 1974 when the mass of massive tornadoes went up “tornado alley’. The one through Louisville was on the ground for about ten miles and left a swath one/half mile wide. I think there were something like 123 that day. I still have a book published by the local paper about all the damage. Tombstones were overturned in the military cemetery.
It was terrifying to behold from the path – I don’t want to see one from the distance. It hit where I was at about 5:15 and I worked until about 4 AM clearing trees so rescue people could get to victims. I got my wife to safety and it was 9 days before we could return to our apartment
.
The first time I heard of a hurricane it sounded like Dad said hurrycun.
Randy, many residents in the Daytona area do not have power. We are approx 50 mi south of there and lots of us lost power for a bit. My daughter’s power finally came back on, but no internet yet. Ian is a mean one and we are so thankful to be rid of him and to have escaped the worst of his wrath! Everyone, please continue to pray for recovery efforts.
My Mother called these storms ‘hurricuns’.
Thank you, I think the loss of power, internet and similar problems is the reason i haven’t heard from him. He told me he had a generator and a Coleman gas stove for cooking. Now a days it does not take much to get me worried.
I live in Utah….Southern Utah. We are CA natives who moved here just over 5 years ago. We lived in a small town called La Verkin, which is adjacent to another slightly bigger (but still smallish) town of Hurricane UT. As Hurricane is the area reference point, the word is used frequently. It doesn’t take the newcomer very long to learn (or to be advised) that the town is actually called Hurri-kun. Usage of the Hurri-kane pronunciation is either in reference to a big storm, or a mark of a non Utahn individual. In setting into the community, one becomes acquainted with hardcore locals who reduce it further to Hurr-k’n. It makes me smile to read your description here. Have a lovely weekend, Tipper!
Hurricane (hurruhkin), UT, is the home of Matt’s Off Road Recovery of YouTube fame!
We’re getting alot of rain and some wind in Richmond, VA.
I lived on the NC coast for 30+ years and in the ’80’s I lived/sailed on my 30′ sailboat. I’ve had the ‘opportunity’ to weather many hurricanes. Although I never desired a hurricane to hit anywhere near where I lived, the dynamics of the storms always fascinated & awed me. They still do. The fact that it affects tides, spawn tornadoes, not be ‘predictable’ in its track, intensify & de-intensify and that no one could do anything to change or stop it always left me somewhat humbled. In my opinion, it’s the closest earthy thing I can imagine to actually seeing the immense power of God.
We were totally skipped here in GA to except for moderate wind. I was really hoping for rain. But I don’t want others to.suffer so I can have it. I’m glad the good Lord is the master of the wind and it is not our choice.
I remember the tornadoes of April 1974. There were something like 50 in the southeastern US that night. I worked in some of that blowdown for about two years. There was about 3000 acres blown down in just one of those tornadoes.
“Hurricane” is an infrequent place name on topographic maps. I imagine it commemorates an historic blowdown, like the one Davy wrote about. Of course on the maps they take the Appalachian out of it and make it “standard” English.
I am pleased that you are pronouncing harricun correctly. That was the way it was pronounced when I was a youngster by everyone in my area and even by the media. It is still pronounced like that in Great Britian. At some point the news media decided to pronounce it differently, as has happened in so many other cases, and apparently don’t care what is correct. The media people also often mispronounce local names and their grammar is frequently in error. It is harricun and always will be.
I remember those tornadoes. I know that some came through upstate SC during the month of April 1974. If we are thinking of the same ones, one came within a half mile of my uncles’s home at Duncan, SC . I often complain about my area not getting as much rain as areas around me, I compare my area to a doughnut and say my area is the hole in the doughnut. When I would complain, my best friend my father in law would remind and say “we may not get as much rain but we also don’t get as much of the storms other areas get”. We need to count our blessings and remember God is in control.
At one time, Hurricane Ian was forecasted to come through Georgia and then through my area- Greenville, SC. I was hoping to get a couple of inches of rain but that didn’t happen, we may have had 1/2 inch and some pretty strong winds for my area that blew some trees down. In September of 1988 or 89 (I don’t remember) Hurricane Hugo was also forecasted to come through Greenville but turned at Columbia and went through Charlotte causing a lot of damage. There was a tropical storm that came through in the late 90’s with a lot of rain washing out a good many bridges. After seeing the damage in other areas, I am not complaining.
I am very concerned about BP member Gene. He lives in Daytona, Florida and that area has a lot of damage. We have been emailing each other about places that are common to both of us- he use to live in my area.. I emailed him but have heard nothing from him.
I was very thankful to hear we weren’t expected to feel any effects from this storm
my grandparents said hurricun.
A good friend of mine lives in southwest Florida. He says it’s been pretty rough there due to that same storm.
What can really break your heart is seeing someone who’d been through a big storm with nothing and no one left, not even their pets. Nothing can be more desolate. The bottoms of our hearts just fall out for them. But the sunshine comes, along with people who really care and pitch in to help
What does “500 pole event” mean. My best guess is that it means the storm is strong enough to knock down a lot of trees or utility poles. I’m from New England, and that saying is definitely new to me. But I like the sound of it, whatever it means.
Joan-your guess about power poles is correct. It meant that over 500 poles had damage from storm and had to be replaced.
Your 1946 ‘harik’n’ is how I heard it way back in the day til I learned there were a few more letters in the word and no ‘k’. But, just like other words and sayings, people and the letters they use change from area to area. I can usually tell by hearing people ‘remove’ the ‘r’ in their words, that they are from one of the northeast of the US. My Grandmother, born in Massachusetts, lost the ‘r’ in park, the ‘r’ in my Grandfathers name George, etc. Being reared in Florida I had fun reminding her all the time. As far as Ian, the lost of houses, cars, boats, blah, blah, blah, are sad, but Praise the Lord no more lives were lost than what has been reported so far. Unlike a tornado, you do have a small window of escaping with a Hurricane and they chose not to. Nothing is as important as your life, in my opinion. We, here in upstate Florida, were scheduled to have approximately 4″ of rain, and probably got 1/4 to 1/2 “…small Blessings, and I will take all I can get. Wow, was Alex Blessed to get medical help when he did, that would have had a very different ending. I am sad to see you getting so close to the end, but I am sure you are searching for another one. Stay well and safe, you guys and God Bless.
We don’t get too many hurricanes here in the mountains, but it sure gets our attention when one of them does manage to get into the mountains. I can only remember a few and it seemed like when it got into the mountains then it had a hard time getting back out and bouncing around and doing much damage before it did find its way out! They can sure pack a lot of damage on their way through!